


Fait Accompli

by AppleScruff



Category: Historical RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, F/M, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-01-15 14:38:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18501046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleScruff/pseuds/AppleScruff
Summary: When people try to change history, it’s up to the Time Agents to stop them.Liam Payne is one of them and he can’t wait to go on his first mission. He was the best student of the Agency, has learned everything that can be learned about time travel and knows exactly how to behave in the different time periods. He’s convinced he will pass the test that’s his first mission with flying colors, he’s smart enough to not let anything go wrong.But love has nothing to do with intelligence, something Liam finds out about too late when he has already fallen in love. In love with Anne Boleyn, the future wife of Henry the Eighth.





	1. Where Liam Get’s His First Mission

Liam is typing up a record of one of Zayn Malik’s missions when the person in question steps into his office with a smirk. The boy with black hair, hazel eyes and really long lashes saunters up to his desk with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bagel in the other. It looks like the older boy has gone for one with cheese today.

Just like every day, Zayn is dressed in a casual attire. He’s wearing black jeans hung low on his hips and a black sweater, only zipped up halfway so you can see the blue shirt with the logo of ACDC printed on it that he’s wearing under it. There are black combat boots on his feet that would probably slip off if he tries to run with them.

His clothes are in contrast with Liam’s, who’s wearing a suit every office stiff has to wear. Only if you’re an active agent, are you allowed to wear any clothes you like. Liam has never understood why the rule existed, but like with every rule he adheres to it.

“Liam, my boy,” Zayn bellows as he sits himself down on the chair he has moved in front of the desk. He puts his cup of coffee down in front of him. “How did the date go yesterday?”

“Not all that well,” Liam replies, patting the back of his head in embarrassment. “The girl was a bit boring to be honest. She kept going on and on about her pet dogs and how much her parents loved her. Which is sweet but only to a certain extent.”

“And you didn’t tell her to talk about something else, did you?” Zayn takes a bite out of his bagel before shaking his head ruefully. “Of course not. You’re Liam, ever the gentleman.”

Liam doesn’t correct Zayn. What he’s saying is true. Liam is too polite for his own good sometimes and Zayn knows this. He and Liam have been friends for more than a year, ever since Liam started at the Agency, and they know each other inside and out.

Before meeting Zayn, Liam never had friends, not real ones at least. No, he didn’t have any imaginary friends, the friends he had during his school years had been of flesh and blood but they had been fleeting. They hadn’t interested to get to know him, they only befriended him because they didn’t want him to feel alone – which was nice of them, Liam supposes.

But all of that changed when he met Zayn. He had just finished his training as a Time Agent and was the newbie of the office. Zayn is two year older then Liam, so when Liam had started at the Agency, had just finished his first year as an active agent. The older Time Agent had taken him under his wing and in the process they had become good friends.

Zayn would tell Liam, at the younger boy’s request, about the journeys into the past that he and his partner went one while Liam was stuck doing paper work and Liam sucked them up like a sponge. Zayn was an amazing story teller, when Liam closed his eyes, he could easily see the old roads in Rome Louis and Zayn ran down as they tried to escape a group of angry cohorts – sticks in their hands as they chased the two men down. He could taste the sea on his own lips when Zayn told him about his mission that had brought him onto the first ship of the Dutch VOC.

The stories always make Liam anxious to go on a mission of his own, eager to leave his desk behind and go after the bad guys himself. It’s why he signed up for the Time Agency in the first place, to catch bad guys and see history with his own eyes.

But he had still to complete his first year of desk duty before his bosses would let him go through a time portal. According to them, it’s because Time Agents must become familiar with all aspects of the agency before they can become active. Liam had hoped they would make an exception when it came to him because he had been a remarkable student who eared high grades, was fit and always played by the rules. But his hope had been in vain, because he had been assigned to desk duty just like the rest of his year.

“I would offer to help you find a girlfriend, but alas.” Zayn pretends to look sorry as he grins at Liam and holds up his hands, palms up. His hands are bagel free, having finished his sandwich a few seconds ago. “I don’t have any clue what makes a girl attractive.

Zayn is one of the few gay guys who can’t tell if a girl is pretty or not. Most blokes who are only interested in other blokes, do know what a fit girl looks like, but they just not attracted to them. Liam’s friend is one of the few he can’t, he can only appreciate the male form of beauty.

“I think I’m just going to take a break from dating,” Liam tells Zayn. He laces the fingers of his hands together and lays them in front of him on the desk, next to where his friend his planted his feet while Liam had been daydreaming about his career in the agency. “I’m becoming an active agent in a few months, so I’m going to be really busy soon if everything works out.”

“That’s right, you’re almost up for promotion,” Zayn exclaims as he slaps his forehead none too gently. His skin is red as he pulls his hand back. “I should probably get you a little gift, or something.”

Zayn loves giving people gifts, not only when it’s their birthday. He uses every special occasion as an excuse to buy people small gifts. He has gotten Liam something the day after his first day at the office, on Valentine’s day, on his birthday, when he won a boxing match againts one of the other Agents and even when he bought his puppy Loki. His whole flat is filled with little trinkets Zayn gave him.

“You don’t have to give my anything,” Liam assures Zayn. He snickers when he sees the frown that has formed on his friend’s face. “You know I’m not getting the promotion on my own merit. I’ve done my one year of desk duty and just like everybody else after their first year, I get promoted to field agent.”

“That’s not how it works, Liam,” Zayn corrects Liam, frown still on his face. “You don’t automatically become an active agent, just because you had a year of desk duty. They only promote you when you’re ready and Liam, you are ready. And that’s all because of me,” Zayn adds with a grin.

“My dear collage here is speaking the truth,” a fake posh voice suddenly says, making Zayn turn his head around and Liam turn his eyes towards the door.

It’s Louis Tomlinson, Zayn’s colleague and Liam’s other best friend. Like Zayn, he’s dressed in casual attire – beige jeans, blue shirt and red beanie. Louis’s hair is a sandy blonde color and his eyes are a piercing blue.

Louis walks further into the room and sits down on Liam’s desk with a grin on his face. Zayn immediately removes his feet from the desk– almost knocking over his coffee in the process – so Louis can sit more comfortably. Just like always, he’s eager to please the two-year-older boy.

It really is strikingly obvious that Zayn has a weakness for Louis. It wouldn’t surprise him if the whole office knew. You would have to be blind to not see the way Zayn looks at Louis – like he’s the sun and stars at the same time – or goes out of his way to make Louis laugh or look at him.

Luckily – or not, depending on the way you look at it – Louis doesn’t seem to have a clue about Zayn’s feelings. He probably thinks Zayn pulls pranks with him because he likes the pranks themselves instead of the one who pulls them.

“You only get promoted when you’re ready and apparently the bosses think you are, Payne,” Louis announces. He grabs Liam’s hands and shakes them enthusiastically. “They’ve asked me to fetch you. You’re getting your first mission.”

Liam’s eyes become huge as saucers as he hears the amazing news. His heart drops for what feels like a mile. He’s finally going to do what’s been his dream ever since Mr. Livingston had told him about the Time Agency. He’s going to travel through time. Exhilarated doesn’t even begin to describe how Liam is feeling right now.

“Congrats man,” Zayn exclaims. He leans over the desk and bumps Liam’s shoulder with his fist, a big grin on his face. “You deserve it.”

Louis jumps from the table and turns to Zayn. “They want us to come as well. I reckon they want us to help prepare or…”

“Or they want us to go with him,” Zayn interrupts Louis. “That would be awesome.” The dark-haired boy’s gaze shifts from Louis to Liam and back.

New active agents are always accompanied on their first mission by older active agents. A young, reckless new agent can too easily do something wrong and change history forever and traveling with an older agent is supposed to prevent that.

Liam hopes Zayn is right and he and Louis are the ones who will travel with him. The mission would be even more exciting if he could do it with his two friends. That and they are two of the best agents Liam knows. They’ve caught more bad guys than the other agents, even the more experienced ones.

“Well, who knows.” Louis takes a step towards the door and tips his head sideways. “Let’s go. You know how much the bosses hate waiting.”

“We’re coming, we’re coming,” Zayn replies before rising from the chair. He takes his foam cup of coffee from Liam’s desk and make his way towards the door. Liam follows his example.

On their way to the office of their head of department, the three time agents walk past a bunch of offices just like Liam’s. Inside them are a dozen of agents dressed just like him typing out reports, writing recommendations and press releases they will send to papers as a cover for the time portals. The things they do are just as important to the Time Agency as the work the active agents do. When Liam started out here he hadn’t known, but now he does.

The halls where the active agents as well as the students train are one floor lower. Sometimes Liam can hear the sound of heavy weights banging on the ground. The ceilings of the gyms aren’t sound proof, unlike the walls.

Liam, Zayn and Louis reach the office within three minutes. They come to a standstill in front of the door and Louis knocks on the door. A voice with a Yorkshire accents tells them to enter.

Three men in suit are sitting at a large desk at the far end of the room. Two of them are balding while the third one has an healthy head of blonde hair on his head. All three of them have stern looks on their faces.

The blonde man was the one who recruited Liam three years ago. He had approached him when Liam was still working in the Foreign Office and had told him he was chosen by the government to take part in a special project. It had sounded ominous, but in a good way, so Liam had told the other man that he was interested. Liam had never wanted to work for the Foreign Office, he had only applied for a job there because his father worked there as well. The special project had seemed to Liam as an escape from an otherwise dull job.

“Ah, agent Payne,” the bald man in the middle exclaims, smiling for a fraction of a second before schooling his face into a stern look again. He nods to Liam’s friends, who are standing to both side of him. “Agent Tomlinson, Malik.”

Louis and Zayn nod back. The greeting must be an sign they can sit down because Louis and Zayn walk towards the chairs standing in front of the desk. Liam follows their example and sits down next to Zayn. The older male hasn’t put his cup of coffee on the desk, instead he’s holding it in his hands.

“Another portal has opened,” the blonde boss tells Liam and his friends. He is leaning his head on his hands, fingers laced together. It makes him look a little less stiff and formal. “This one leads to 1522 and apparently someone thinks it’s an important enough date to travel to because one of our agents saw a man enter the portal and not come back.”

The year 1522 doesn’t ring any bells. As far as Liam knows, nothing important happened that year. No one important was born or brought to power. However, Liam knows not all things are that obvious. Maybe something minor happened that is important enough for someone to want to change it. Who knows, maybe it is something important on only a personal level.

“Mr. Stevens, Mr. White and I thought we could give this mission to a new agent and you, agent Payne, was our first choice.”

Liam is a bit disappointed that they’re giving him such an unimportant mission. He would have thought with his perfect scores on all his tests – physical as well as cognitive ones – he would be given an slightly more important first mission. Does being first in your class count for nothing?

But he knows better than to complain, so he just smiles at his bosses and thanks them. He thinks he does a good job at hiding is disappointment.

“We thought it would be a good idea if both Zayn and Louis go with you. I heard you admire them.”

Liam can’t stop a blush from creeping onto his cheeks because Zayn and Louis weren’t supposed to know. And now they do..

“Yes. Um, how long do I have to prepare?” Liam quickly asks, his voice a quiet grumble.

“You have an hour to get change clothes and supply yourself with weapons. One of the engineers will tell you were the portal is when you’re ready. I will be waiting in Liam’s office.”

The bosses don’t have much else to say, so within seconds, Zayn, Liam and Louis are standing outside the office.

“So, you admire us, hey?” Louis asks while wiggling his eyebrows. He is grinning from ear to ear, much to Liam’s embarrassment.

“Yeah, but almost all of the none-active agents do,” Liam defends himself.

“There’s no shame in marveling at our awesomeness,” Zayn tells Liam with a grin. He throws an arm around his shoulders and pinches the younger man’s side. “We are the best Time Agents after all.”

Louis adds, wrapping his arm around Liam’s waist, “Don’t worry. After this mission you will be as good as us, my dear Padawan. All you have to do is, watch and learn. This mission will go down in history.”

Louis doesn’t know just how right he is.


	2. Where They Go Through The Portal

The portal is beneath a bridge. It hovers a few centimeters from the ground as cars pass over it. A low swishing sound emanates from it as Liam and his friends stand in front of it.

It’s the first portal Liam has seen in real life and he can’t help but feel in awe. Looking at pictures of portals hasn’t prepared him for standing in front of one, even though they were supposed to. There’s just something about the bright colors and the sound coming from the huge vortex that can’t be experienced with looking at a picture.

“Alright,” Louis announces as he dumps the duffel bag he has been carrying for the five minutes they walked from the car to the space beneath the bridge. “Let’s get dressed then.”

There are clothes along with weapons in the brown bag. They can’t go around wearing clothes from the Tudor era - it would turn a few heads and that’s something they don’t want - so they’re still dressed in modern garb.

“These are for you,” Louis tells as he throws a collection of clothes in Liam’s direction, which he catches before they can fall in the mud. Liam is used to Louis’s careless attitude, so he doesn’t raise an eyebrow.

Liam starts to entangle the clothes as Louis gives Zayn his bundle of clothes. He flinches as he sees the hoses he’s going to need to wear. It looks like it’s going to fit extremely tight, especially around the crotch. This is going to be one uncomfortable mission.

But Liam knows he has to wear the clothes, she he turns around and starts to undress. The cold spring nips at his skin as he puts on the hoses. Just like he thought, it fits tightly around his crotch but thankfully not as tight to cut of circulation. - otherwise it wouldn’t be just an uncomfortable mission but a very painful one.

He puts on the rest of the clothes and turns around again. Zayn has finished getting dressed too but Louis is still putting on his coat. Like with every outfit he wears, Zayn looks good in his costume but the same can’t be said about Louis. The clothes look to big for him, especially his coat. Liam hopes he himself looks better.

“Well, shit,” Louis curses as he tugs at his own coat. “I think they gave me the wrong one. I’m drowning in this.”

“I don’t think it looks too bad,” Zayn reassures him. He takes a step closer to his friend and joins Louis with pushing and pulling at the red coat. “It doesn’t make you look any less of a noble, which is what we’re going for.”

Liam, Louis and Zayn are going to impersonate two noble men and their servant - Zayn will be the servant because of his skin color, which to Liam’s surprise hadn’t faced Zayn. When he had asked him about it, Zayn had told Liam he knew it was how it worked in Tudor times, their bosses didn’t mean anything by it.

“Maybe so, but a look a bit ridiculous,” Louis mutters. He ignores Zayn’s protests as he starts pulling his coat off and puts it under his arm. “So, that’s better.”

“You can’t just wear your coat under your arm, you’re going to lose it,” Zayn protests, which prompts Louis to roll his eyes.

“Did I ever lose something, Zaynie?” the older male asks, one eyebrow raised in a challenge. Zayn’s cheeks are painted red with the nickname his friend just called him. Liam feels ashamed for Zayn at how obvious he’s being. It’s beyond him how Louis hasn’t caught on yet. Maybe it’s for the best, though, because Liam thinks Zayn is going to explode with embarrassment if Louis ever found out.

“No, but there’s a first time for everything,” Zayn fires back. There’s a slight edge to his voice, which is contradicting with the small smile that curls the corners of his mouth. This isn’t the first time Zayn’s a walking contradiction.

“Well, not today. Now, stop talking,” Louis cuts Zayn off as he opens his mouth to protest again. “Are we going to sit here and talk like a group of old spinsters or are we going to catch us an Intruder?” The Intruder is used for everyone who goes into a time vortex, either on purpose or accidentally. It’s not really original but Time Agents were never known for being original.

“Liam,” Louis calls the youngest boy to attention as he shifts through the duffel bag at his feet. “I think it’s best that I give you a dagger or do you rather have a sword. I think you can handle a sword with muscles like that.”

Liam can feel his cheeks heat up at the compliment. He knows he’s toned and that his muscles are bigger than most of the Time Agents’ but he has never received a compliment about them. All people talked about when they talked about his muscles back at the Agency was how to make them bigger of who has more than him. It has always been a competition on who had the bigger muscles and there was always someone with bigger ones, so someone appreciating his muscles is a new thing.

“I would like a sword,” Liam tells Louis and a few second Louis’s hand reappears from the bag with a sword gripped tightly in it.

“This one is too heavy or too difficult to yield,” Louis supplies as he hands the sword over to Liam. “Give it a twirl.”

Liam adheres to Louis’s request and starts swinging the sword in figures of eight. The iron weapon is indeed light and cuts through the air easily.

“Good.” Louis nods his head before turning his head towards Zayn. “Do you have your own dagger or do you need one  from the bag?”

Liam didn’t know Zayn had his own dagger, one who apparently fits in the Tudor time period. It must have cost Zayn a fortune to buy an authentic Tudor weapon.

When Liam voices as much, both Zayn and Louis turn their heads in his direction. He sees nervousness in both pair of eyes. “That’s right, you don’t know,” Louis mutters.

“What don’t I know?” Liam asks. The pitch of his voice has gone up a bit because he doesn’t like that his friends have apparently held a secret from him. Did they think Liam would judge Zayn if he discovered he was rich, for some absurd reason? Is it because his family doesn’t have a lot of money, despite working for the government? Because he wouldn’t. Liam hates judging people on something as shallow as money.

Louis sighs and lays a hand on one of Zayn’s shoulders. “Zayn, here, has taken a dagger with him the last time we went to the Tudor era. It feel in love with it or something and couldn’t leave it behind.”

“What,” Liam yells as his eyes go as big as saucers because Louis has just admitted Zayn has committed a huge violation. They aren’t allowed to take anything with them to the future but Zayn has. If Liam would tell their bosses about this, Zayn would be sacked and could risk jail time. “Why did you do that?”

“No one would miss it, so I thought why not,” Zayn admits with a shrug of his shoulders. Apparently, he doesn’t understand he has done anything wrong. “It’s not as if it’s a vital dagger that will change the course of history.”

“You know you can never be sure about that,” Liam protests. “Maybe someone would have stumbled on the dagger while he was fighting someone else and would have saved his own live with it. Maybe that man that would have survived if you left the dagger where you found it, was a really important person later on in history.” Their trainers have constantly pressed upon them how important even the littlest things are. You can’t take something with you EVER, even when it  doesn’t seem important.

“No need to fret, dear Liam,” Louis tells Liam, a smile on his face. He waves his hand in the air, as if to sweep away Liam’s concern. “Like you might have noticed, nothing in the present has changed. Zayn’s dagger wasn’t as important after all.”

“But you didn’t know that back then.”

“But now we do, so that’s that,” Louis cuts the conversation short before turning back to Zayn. “So, you’re using your own dagger.”

“Yeah, I think I will,” Zayn confirms.

Liam shakes his head, which no one sees because both Zayn and Louis are not looking at him.

Louis’s hand disappears into the bag again to get a weapon of his own. His had reappears with another sword. This one looks lighten than the one Liam’s holding but it’s probably more effective.

Liam’s eyes wonder to the sword in his hand. He silently wonders if maybe Louis stole this sword from the Tudor ear like Zayn had with his dagger. He can’t know for sure because the Time Agency is very good at making their weapons look authentic. It’s one of the reasons why they’re being paid the big bucks by the government.

A large amount of the money goes to designing the weapons and they have a lot of them. For every Time Agent there are four weapons stored in the armory. When he saw the armory for the first time, he had looked at the vast amount of weapons with wide eyes and open mouth before asking their instructor why they needed so many.

The balding guy had told him it was because for every era they needed other weapons. Throughout history, the way people designed weapons changed - that’s why archeologists can tell so easily tell which weapon comes from which era -, so for every era that agents go to, they need different weapons.

“So, now that’s all sorted, it’s time to go through the portal,” Louis announces as he zips up the bag again and throws it a few feet away. After they’ve gone through the portal, another agent will come and get it.

“Liam.” Louis turns around she he’s facing the younger boy. “When we go through the portal, you might experience some dizziness or maybe you get sick. That’s completely normal. Zayn over here threw up his first time.”

Zayn reacts to his friend’s accusation with a shrug of his shoulders, apparently not feeling embarrassed about it. Liam would have thought he would be, considering who’s telling it. It isn’t the first time Zayn has taken him by surprise and Liam doesn’t think it will be the last.

“Alright. Thank you for the heads-up,” Liam tells Louis with a nod of his head. He swallows with difficulty as he stomach turns in anticipation. He’s finally going to do it, he’s going to time travel.

“I will go first,” Zayn announces. He takes a step closer to the vortex before turning around again. He nods in Louis’s direction. “Louis will follow after you, Liam. I think it’s best if you go second.”

“Alright,” Liam agrees. Zayn knows what he’s talking about so he’s just  going with whatever Zayn says. “See you on the other side, then.”

“Okay. Goodbye for now,” Zayn greets before stepping inside the vortex. Liam can hear a sucking sound over the whirling noise of the time portal and suddenly Zayn is gone.


	3. Where Liam Saves A Lady

Zayn was right, Liam does feel nauseous when he exits the time portal, but he hadn’t mentioned the dizziness. As Liam walks onto the grass, his legs wobble and he almost falls unto his knees if it weren’t for Louis catching him in time.

“You’re alright?” the older boy asks as he keeps Liam upright with an arm wrapped around his waist. Liam leans against him as he waits for his head to stop spinning.

“We didn’t you say I’d be dizzy as well?” Liam asks, his voice as wobbly as his knees. He probably looks green in the face as well.

“That’s because most people don’t get dizzy,” Louis tells Liam.

Louis starts to move them away from the portal, all but dragging Liam with him. Liam tries his best to help Louis by moving his feet but his legs aren’t really cooperating.

“Let’s sit you down,” Louis mutters as he walks up to a tree nearby. The portal has led them into a forest. Behind him Zayn comes through the portal, eyes searching for his colleagues.

“Aren’t we losing precious time?” Liam asks as Louis lowers him to the ground. His arse hits the wet grass, the coldness seeping into his thighs making Liam flinch. The bark digs through his clothes and into his skin as he sits back against it. The world around Liam has already started to look less unsteady.

“No, it’s alright,” Zayn reassures Liam as he walks towards him and Louis. “The dizziness will probably fade soon. We can wait until it does.”

“Were you guys dizzy your first time?” Liam asks his friends. He closes his eyes for a second in the hope it will help against the dizziness.

“No, but like I said, that rarely happens,” Louis answers. He sits down next to Liam and leans against the bark as well. Zayn doesn’t join them, instead he starts to walk around, probably looking for signs of the intruder. Liam can see Zayn crouch down in front of the portal, probably looking for footsteps leading away from it that don’t lead towards the spot were Liam and Louis are sitting down.

“That’s great then,” Liam mutters. This really isn’t a good beginning. He has already slowed down the mission because he feels dizzy, something that almost never happens to most time agents. It’s just Liam’s luck that he’s one of the few agents who can’t go through a portal without getting vertigo.

“He, don’t beat yourself up about it,” Louis tells Liam, making the younger boy feel like he’d read his thoughts. It’s probably because the frustration he’s feeling is clearly visible on his face. Liam’s never been good at hiding his emotions. “It doesn’t say anything about your ability to be a good agent. All it means is that you need a little more time to recover when you Travel.”

“It just means I always slow the mission down,” Liam complains. He has started tearing the grass from the earth with his fingers in frustration. “Nobody is going to want to work with me. I’m going to end up doing all those boring mission instead of the interesting ones.”

“You don’t know that,” Louis protests. He throws an arm around Liam’s neck and gives Liam’s shoulder a friendly pinch. Liam is used to his friend’s harsh sings of friendship, so he doesn’t flinch at the pain. Being friends with Louis makes you immune to small amounts of pain. “It’s probably just because it’s your first time. I’m sure the next time you go through a portal you just feel a little sick and nothing more.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Liam mutters. He turns his head to give Louis a small, thankful smile before fixing his gaze back on the grass between his outstretched legs. “I think my dizziness when away, by the way.”

“Great. Let’s try getting you to your feet then,” Louis exclaims and jumps to his feet. He stretches out is hand so Liam can take it and use it to pull himself back to his feet.

Liam stumbles a little bit when he’s standing upright again but the dizziness doesn’t return, much to Liam’s relief. They can start the mission now. Liam is finally going to catch his first Intruder.

Louis and Liam walk towards Zayn, who’s still searching the ground for footprints. It appears he’s been unable to find them the past few minutes.

“You need help?” Louis yells, startling Zayn into lifting his gaze up from the ground. “You really can’t do anything yourself, can you.”

Liam smiles at his friend’s banter as well as the way Zayn blushes. He cheeks always turn pink whenever Louis teases him, which is quite often. It’s the reason why Liam had started to suspect that Zayn may feel something more for Louis then friendship.

“I can’t find footprints beside ours for some reason,” Zayn explains. His yes return to the ground before going back to Louis’s face. “I think whomever went through the portal knows about time agents and has destroyed his tracks.”

Some Intruders know about Time Agents because they’ve been chased by one before. It happens once in a while that Agents are unable to catch their targets and they’re able to escape. When that happens, they usually don’t return because they’ve been spooked enough to stay in the present. If Zayn is right, this one hasn’t been and has now returned to time traveling.

“It seems your first mission is going to be an interesting one, my dear Liam,” Louis declares, in a mock official voice. His eyes are shining with the excitement that comes with the chase. “This catch is probably going to be a difficult one. Oh, how exciting.” The last part is said with a grin.

“We first have to find him, though,” Zayn reminds Louis. “We’re going to have to search the forest and just hope we walk in the right direction. Let’s hope we find him before he can cause any damage.”

“Are we going to split up?” Liam asks. It seems to him a logical thing to do but maybe Louis has a plan that won’t involve them going in separate directions.

“It’s probably a good idea we do,” Louis tells Liam. He throws his arm around Liam’s shoulder, earning the younger boy a jealous look from Zayn. “Or are you too scared to go on your own into the big, bad forest.”

“Of course not,” Liam exclaims, a grin on his face because he knows his friend is joking. “What gave you that absurd idea. I’m afraid of nothing.”

“Sure, Liam.” Louis lifts an eyebrow as he looks at the younger boy skeptically. “You’re the only human being who’s afraid of nothing.”

“Alright guys, enough joking around. We’ve an Intruder to catch,” Zayn interjects. There’s a harsh quality to his voice that Liam doesn’t have to guess the cause of. Even though Liam has never gave any indication he feels anything other than friendship for Louis, Zayn always gets a bit jealous when Liam and Louis get too close.

“Right. You’re right, Zaynie,” Louis tells Zayn with a sigh. He drops his arm and gives Liam a quick wink. “Time’s a-wasting.”

Louis decides that Zayn will go West, Liam will go North and he himself will go South. The agree to meet up again in three hours.

Almost no sun filters through the canopy of leaves as Liam makes his way between the trees. The green leaves block most of the light, creating strange black shades that flitter on the ground as Liam walks over their fallen companions.

He isn’t used to walking in a forest like this. In his time, they are scares and very much thinned out. Through the centuries, most of these trees have been cut down, leaving behind farm land, ready for cultivation. Which really is a shame because Liam rather likes walking through a forest like this. He can hear the birds whistle tunes and the leaves rustle, lulling him into a sense of security. It’s really nice.

Well, it is until a scream cuts through the soft sounds of the forest. It’s female and whomever has uttered it sounds like they’re fearing for their lives. Liam, never one to sit ideal begins to run towards the direction the sound is still coming from. What if it’s the Intruder and whomever is screaming is the one he went back in time to kill?  

Liam runs through the forest, avoiding the trees that seem to pop up in front of him out of nowhere. The sound of the woman’s screams is getting closer and closer, urging the young man on.

Heart thumping rapidly inside his chest, Liam reaches the edge of the forest. The screams have stopped and Liam fears the worst. His heart stops beating altogether when he spots a girl lying on the ground, a man hovering over her. Liam can see something in his hand glitter in the sun and Liam’s money isn’t on it being a mirror or something equally innocent.

“Hey, you!” Liam yells at the man, hoping it will distract him from plunging the knife in the woman’s chest. “Leave that lady alone.”

The woman turns her head and looks at Liam with pleading eyes, the terror clear in beautiful, brown irises. ‘Please,’ she mouths to Liam, probably afraid her yelling for help will only serve to quicken her death.

All the man does is turn back to the woman again and points the knife to her chest, ready to strike. Liam’s training as a time agent kicks in immediately. He dives for the man and knocks him off of the woman’s sprawled figure. Like he’s learned during training, he starts to wrestle for the knife.

He might have taken the man by surprise the first time, but this time he knows exactly what Liam is trying to do. When Liam tries to pry the knife from between his fingers for the second time, the man switches the knife from on hand to another and before Liam can stop him, he wrestles his wrist free from Liam’s strong grip and stabs Liam’s hip, probably going for his stomach.

Liam lets out a wail of agony and his grip on the other wrist of his attacker slips as well. The man makes use of Liam’s laps of control and throws him off of him. Within seconds, he’s back on his feet again but Liam is not far behind. It’ll take more than a nick of a knife at his hip to cut Liam Payne down.

“You’re a hard one, I see,” the man sneers as he watches Liam hobble to his right so his body shields the woman from her attacker. “You must be a new one.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Liam hisses as he tries his best to stand up straight so he’ll look intimidating. The man could be talking about him being a time agent but Liam isn’t sure, so he has to ask. “I’m just helping a lady in need.”

“Oh, sure. That’s what you’re doing here. You know, I wasn’t born yesterday, ,” the man snickers. There’s a smirk on his face that tells Liam the man thinks he’s having the upper hand here. Liam isn’t too sure if he’s wrong. If only there was a way to contact Louis and Zayn and get their help. “Where are the others?”

“Why are you trying to kill her?” Liam counters the man’s question with one of his own.

“I’m not going to answer your question if you’re not going to answer mine.” The man is playing with the knife as keeps smirking at Liam. “So, I’m going to ask you again, where are the others?”

“Like I told you, I don’t know what others you’re talking about,” snaps at the man. He no longer doubts the man is the person he’s looking for but he still has to deny he doesn’t know what the man is talking about for the woman’s sake. Liam can’t talk about Time Agents and Time Portals with her there.

“It’s the woman, isn’t it?” the Intruder asks, her voice betrays he already knows the answer. “You can’t talk about Time Portal’s with her here.”

Liam suppresses the urge to yell at the man. He’s only trying to get him to react shocked at the careless use of words so he will give himself away. Liam knows better than to give him what he wants.

So, instead, he turns to the woman - who has now risen to her feet and is eyeing her attacker with big scared eyes - and says, “I think this gentleman isn’t too right in the head. Talking about time portals and the such.”

“Alright, enough,” the man barks, clearly not appreciating being called a lunatic. Liam turns towards him again and sees he’s indeed got a scowl on his face. “I’ve come here to kill that woman there and you, time agent or not, are not going to stop me.”

Suddenly Liam remembers he has a sword, or at least he did because when he looks at the  strap around his waist, there’s nothing hanging from it. He must have lost it when he was running through the forest. Just his luck.

Luckily for Liam, Louis and Zayn suddenly appear at the edge of the forest and as soon as they see Liam is in trouble, both of them grab their weapons.

The man looks confused as he sees an smirk appear on Liam’s face. “What you’re smiling at? You have no weapon.”

“No, but they do.” Liam points at his colleagues, who are walking in their direction. The man turns to see where he’s pointing and the blood drains from his face.

“I’m going to have to try another time then,” the man mutters before turning around in a flash and running back into the forest and away from the advancing time agents.

“I’ll go after him,” Zayn yells as Liam moves to start chasing after the Intruder. “You just make sure the lady is alright.“

"Alright,” Liam yells back and turns around again. He smiles at the brown haired lady as he walks towards her. “My lady, are you alright.”

Now that there’s no immediate danger, Liam has the time to appreciate how fit the woman looks. Her hair is of a brown color and looks soft to the touch. Her eyes are blue and her gaze is sharp. She’s pale with soft, pink lips. Her figure looks really good in the dress she’s wearing, her waist small and her breasts bulging from her corset.

“Only thanks to you,” the woman tells Liam, her voice soft and engaging. “Who is your master, then I can thank him for your help.”

“That would be me,” Louis tells the woman as he walks up to her and Liam. He doesn’t correct the lady, apparently convinced it’s better if she thinks he’s a servant. “Liam here has been my servant for the past three years. Who, may I ask, did he safe?”

“The name is Anne. Anne Boleyn,” the woman tells them, a smile on her face.


	4. Where Liam Gets A Job As A Servant

Liam sucks in a breath as he sees the size of the castle. All the pictures he saw of castles in the Middle Ages and beyond hadn’t prepared him for the sight in front of him.

The stone walls are towering above him, their height the equivalent of at least twenty busses on top of each other and to his side, they go on for miles and miles. The walls are probably really thick as well. It looks like a fortress, impenetrable. No wonder the king has cooped himself up in here.

Taking a deep breath, Liam tears his eyes away from the walls and aims them at the big door only a few feet away from him. It’s the entrance to the castle and Liam is supposed to knock on it. Then one of the guards will open the door and Liam will hand him his papers. After that, Liam will be let into the castle and is going to be hired as a servant for the king and queen. It’s going to be easy because this is what he’s been trained for. Liam knows all the rules and the customs, so this mission will go perfectly.

Even though Liam knows this, he still feels nervous as he walks up to the door and takes the knocker in his hand. After a heartbeat, he lets go of the iron ring and it bangs against the wooden door.

Liam has to wait only a few minutes, heart beating rapidly in his chest, before the door is opened and a guard appears in the doorway. He doesn’t look too friendly as he waits for Liam to start talking.

Taking in a gulp of air, Liam tries to steal his nerves. It won’t do if the man in front of him knows he’s nervous. He can’t risk the guard thinking his nerves are getting to him because he’s planning an attack on the king or something else equally dangerous.

“Good morning Sir. I am here because I want to work as a servant in the castle,” Liam tells the guard. His voice sounds a lot more steady then his heart is. “I worked in a castle before but my last master can’t afford to pay me anymore. He has fallen on some tough times, you see. I have a recommendation from my former master, here in my hand.”

The agency has forged the documents Liam is holding. Without the papers, he wouldn’t be hired to work at the castle. They can’t let just let anybody work for the king. And Liam has to because otherwise he can’t keep an eye on Anne Boleyn, the woman the Intruder is after.

He, Louis and Zayn had gone back through the portal, after Louis had lost the Intruder in the woods. They had told their bosses that their target had escaped and that they needed to go back again to attempt to catch him a second time. When the older men had heard who the Intruder was after, all of them agreed immediately that Liam and his colleagues couldn’t just simply go after the Intruder again but that one of them had to keep watch over his target as well. In no way, could they allow any harm to become the future queen of England.

His bosses told Liam that it was a good idea that he was the one secretly protecting Anne. Zayn and Louis are two of the best trackers of the agency, it was for the best that they were going to be the one trying to find the Intruder. Liam didn’t mind too much because he knew how good his friends were. Besides, it would allow him to spend more time with Anne. Her portrait really didn’t do her justice.

“Let’s see those papers, then,” the guard barks at Liam. The younger lad wonders what has caused the older male’s mood to go soar. Maybe a few too many nobles have complained about how he’s manning the door.

Liam hands the other male the papers. The guard’s eyes fly over the lines written on them for a few second before he hands it back over again. He eyes Liam a bit warily before he steps aside and tells him briskly, “Well, come in then.”

“Thank you.” Liam gives the guard a friendly smile before walking over the threshold and into the castle.

The walls on the inside of the castle are painted in a light blue color and the ceiling is very high. The furniture is blue as well, some a darker shade and others the same color as the walls. There is also a lot of wooden desks and chairs with turquoise cushions lining the corridor Liam is looking down. The castle may be built in the middle ages, the owner clearly was born after.

“I’m going to bring you to the head of the household,” the guard tells Liam before he starts walking down the corridor, leaving his colleague standing on the other side of the door to man the door alone. Liam follows him. “He will ask you more question and determine if you’re hired.”

“Alright,” Liam replies, not really knowing what else to say.

“As you’re going to be cleaning out the chambers, you’re going to be around the ladies in waiting of the queen. Your last master probably didn’t mind you putting your hands under the skirts of the ladies but the ladies in this castle are off limits. The queen doesn’t like men trying funny business with her ladies, you can’t even look at them, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” is Liam quick to reply. He hopes the surprise isn’t audible to in his voice. Liam has learned at the Agency that the moral codes about sex were lose during this era, despite appearances, but the crudeness of the guards words still shock him. He didn’t know they talked so openly about it.

The guard doesn’t talk after that, just leads Liam down one corridor after another. The castle is a real maze and Liam suspects it’s going to be weeks before he’ll be able to find his way around without getting lost.

After having walked for what feels like hours, the guard stops in front of a wooden door and knocks on it. A gruff voice tells him from behind the door to come in. The guard opens the door and Liam follows him inside.

The room is small. There’s a wooden desk standing in the middle of the room and a man sits on a chair behind it. Behind the man, there’s a wooden chest that’s a dark brown color. There are no windows because the room is situated in the middle of the castle.

“Hey, Richard. What are you doing here?” the man behind the desk ask. He had been writing something on a bit of parchment when the guard, apparently called Richard, and Liam had walked in. The man who’s hair is a sandy color doesn’t seem surprised that the guard walked into his room with a stranger in tow.

“This young lad, going by the name if Liam, wants to work as a servant in the castle,” Richard tells the other man. He’s standing in front of the desk and Liam is standing to his right, hands behind his back and looking down as a sign of respect.

The man behind the desk set down the quil in his hand and sits back in his chair. He runs his eyes over Liam, as if to size him up before his gaze returns to the guard Richard. “Were are his papers?”

“Here they are Sir.” Liam removes his hands from behind his back and holds out his hand in which he’s holding the paper.

“Don’t speak if I don’t ask you a question,” the man behind the desk responds, his voice sharp with disdain. “Didn’t your last master learn you manners.”

Liam’s shoulder slump in shame and embarrassment. He wants to kick himself for forgetting the protocol. “Sorry Sir.”

“I hope your recommendations are good because I wouldn’t hire you on the basis of your manners. The king doesn’t want any rude servants.”

“It won’t happen again,” Liam promises the head of the household.

It better not,“ the older male warns Liam. "Now boy, give me your papers.”

Liam lifts his eyes for a few seconds and walks up to the desk. His eyes are on his hands as he hands over the papers. He then takes a step back and waits with bated breath as the older man inspects the bits of parchments.

“So, you worked for a duke last time and apparently, he speaks very highly of you.” Liam thought the head of the household would read his papers in silence, but apparently he isn’t going to. “He says very hardworking and clean very quickly. I guess that’s a point in your favor. Can you do something else apart from cleaning chambers and put coals on a fire.”

“I can cook and I know how to put on armor,” Liam tells the other male, his voice timid and silent even to his own ears. The man behind the desk can hear him however.

“So, you can do a lot of things,” he concludes. He doesn’t look up but he does nod his head, which Liam counts as a positive sign.

Cooking and knowing how an armor works were things Liam learned at the Agency as well. You never know what you need to pretend to be when you go undercover, maybe a cook in Georgian times or a navigator on the ship of Columbus. You must be prepared for anything.

“You won’t have to cook or put the king into his armor. We have other people who do that,” the head of the household tells Liam dismissively. “But I guess it can come in handy when one of them is sick.”

“I’m going to have to leave you two alone,” the guard, who is still standing next to Liam, announces. Liam raises his eyes for a few seconds to look at the man behind the desk, who is now looking at Richard. There is no emotion visible on his face. “I need to go back to my post.”

“Right, of course,” the man behind the desk replies and he gives the guard nod. “I’ll see you around then.”

“Yes, see you around.” The guard gives a nod in return before he turns to Liam. “Good luck, lad.” He leans in a little and tells Liam in a soft voice so the man behind the desk won’t hear. “Thomas is going to hire you, I can see it in his eyes.”

“Alright. Thank you,” is the only reply Liam can come up with.

Richard leans back again and walks towards the door. Liam turns his eyes on his feet again as the guard walks out of the door.

“Alright, then. Your papers seem to be in order,” Thomas tells Liam. The younger lad can hear the parchment ruffle which he suspects is caused by Thomas folding it. “Apparently you’re a hard worker all be it a bad mannered one. If you can promise me you’ll learn some manners, I see no problem with me hiring you.”

“I will. Thank you, thank you.” Liam tries his best to let his voice sound as submissive as possible. Men in this era love it when the men working beneath them talk to them like they kiss the ground they walk on.

“You will start immediately. When we’re done in here, you and I will go to one of the rooms that’s now being cleaned and I will hand you over to the person that has been scheduled to clean that room today. You will follow him the whole day and he will show you how we clean here in the castle as well as what other things are expected of you. Tomorrow, you’re expected to work on your own. The servants quarters are down this corridor. The women and men each sleep in a different room and going into the room of the opposite sex is strictly prohibited. If you want a roll in the hay, you can do that in the stables. Just make sure none of the people of the court see you, especially not the queen.”

Which means Liam is not going to get laid while he watches Anne because there’s no way Liam is going to have sex in a stable, right next to the horses. That’s just too awkward.

“Noted,” Liam tells Thomas.

“Good. Well, that concludes our conversation,” Thomas tells Liam, letting out a sigh. He hands Liam the piece of parchment he came to the castle with and the younger male takes it from his wrinkled hand. “I will now take you upstairs to the king’s rooms.”

Thomas rises from his chair and Liam does the same as the older male walks out from behind the desk. He proceeds to walk to the door and Liam follows him.

The king’s chambers are almost at the other side of the castle and when they reach them, Thomas has a bit difficulty breathing. It the price he’s paying for living for so long.

Thomas opens one of the doors and walks into the room. Liam follows him and as soon as he’s over the threshold, he’s taken aback with the musky smell of the room. He’s surprised that one of the rooms of the king smells so much of mold. He knew hygiene was almost non-existent in this era but Liam had expected the room to be filled with the smell of perfume, what they used to mask the stink. It appears the servant who’s cleaning the room hasn’t had to opportunity to spray it yet.

The servant is currently kneeling beside the bed and has his head stuck beneath it. The sight is quite comical and Liam has to stop himself from laughing. The servant looks really ridicules.

“Harry, can you come over here for a moment,” Thomas calls out to the person laying on the ground.

Thomas’s voice takes the servant by surprise. A muted thump sounds as his head hits the underside of the bed. The curses coming from Harry are muted as well, but Thomas can probably hear all the same.

Harry’s face is as read is an tomato as he crawls out from under the bed and scrambles to his feet. His brown curls are in disarray as he turns towards his boss and smiles at him. It’s clearly visible on his face that he’s embarrassed about his own clumsiness.

Harry has a lean build, but the muscles in his legs suggest he’s toned as well. He has a long torso, long legs and big feet. His eyes are a dark green and his lips are red and full. Even Liam can see he’s good looking.

“What is it, Sir?” Harry asks as he walks towards Liam and Thomas. He almost trips over his own feet but he catches himself before he has the change to fall flat on his face.

“Liam over here is new. I just hired him an hour ago,” Thomas tells Harry. “I want you to show him around and teach him how things work at the palace. It will only be for today,. tomorrow he’s going to work on his own.”

“Okay, sir.” Harry gives Thomas a nod before turning his head and fixing Liam with his eyes. “It’s nice to meet you, Liam,” Harry greets the other male, his smile easing into a friendly one.

“Harry, Liam. I expect you to be done with this room in ten minutes. I’m sure the two of you will be able to pull it off together.”

Both Harry and Liam turn towards Thomas and nod their heads. Liam isn’t too sure about being able to follow the order then Harry appears to be, but Liam is not going to tell Thomas that. He knows it’s not his place to question orders, all he’s allowed to do is carry them out even when they sound ridicules.

After that, Thomas walks out of the room and leaves them to their own devices.

Harry turns out to be a very friendly guy. He has worked at the palace for the past three years together with his sister. His parents were servants as well, but only to a duke. His aunt worked for the king’s father and had invited his sister Gemma and him to work there as well. His sister now dresses the queen and of Harry’s to be believed, queen Katarina and Gemma are friends.

They end up finishing the room in time.


	5. Where Zayn and Louis Sleep At An Inn

Zayn and Louis have been tracking the Intruder the whole day and they’re not any closer to catching him than when they first started. Their prey is very cunning and always a step ahead of them. This is going to be an even more difficult mission than they originally thought.

The night has fallen now and the two agents have called it a day. It’s no use trying to track the Intruder in the dark, they wouldn’t be able to see a thing, so they booked a room at the local inn. There’s only one room available, so Zayn and Louis are going to spend the night together.

Zayn isn’t too thrilled about it but he knows he has no other choice, so he doesn’t complain. He just follows his best friend to their room with a heart that threatens to beat out of his chest.

The room is small. Zayn didn’t expect any different, as they’re staying at an inn during the Tudor era. There were no such things as luxury hotels during those times and neither were their showers. People at this time in history, still believed bathing was bad for you, people used perfume instead to smell nice.

Louis sits down on the only bed in the room as soon as the door is closed. He gestures Zayn to sit down next to him and the younger boy nods with his head to signal he will be doing so when he’s put their luggage down.

Zayn always does what Louis tells him to, has done so for the past two years. It’s one of the reasons why Zayn had become Louis’s partner in crime. Their relationship didn’t use to be like that in the beginning but that changed when Zayn discovered how pleased Louis looked when people did what he asked them to and that he’d quite liked the sight.

Pleasing Louis has become somewhat of an addiction of Zayn. Whatever the older boy asks of him, he does. Nothing is to crazy or too dangerous to put that look on Louis’s face. Seeing his big grin and wide, blue eyes shining with joy and satisfaction is something he strives for whenever he is around Louis.

Only a year ago, Zayn had realized just how far he had fallen. They had been on a mission and Louis had been hurt. A Roman mob had trampled Louis in their frenzy to get away from the slinging clubs of the  _Cohortes urbanae_. Seeing his friend in such a state, beaten up with a broken rib and a bloody nose had, had Zayn in such a state that he had started crying. He knew Louis was going to be okay, the injuries weren’t too sever but that hadn’t stopped the fear from grabbing a hold of him at seeing Louis hurt. It was then that he realized he didn’t think of Louis as a friend anymore. He had become more to him.

Ever since that day, Zayn has become even more acutely aware of Louis’s presence. He started looking at his friend with different eyes, with appreciative eyes. He could no longer look at Louis without thinking how fit he looked. He had appreciated his friend’s looks before but he had never allowed himself to think of Louis as fit.

Whenever the older boy entered a room, Zayn’s eyes would stray towards him. He would follow his every move and fear as well as hope for Louis to come closer. His tan skin concealed most of his blushes whenever Louis happened to be too close or whenever his touch would linger.

Zayn isn’t sure, but he has an inkling that his other friend Liam knows about his feelings for Louis. He doesn’t mind it too much if his friend knows, as long as he doesn’t tell Louis. Luckily for Zayn, Liam is trustworthy because as far as Zayn can tell, Liam hasn’t told Louis anything. Louis hasn’t started treating Zayn differently, which means he doesn’t know. And Zayn wants to keep it that way because if he does find out, Zayn will die of mortification. Zayn knows Louis has no feelings for him, the older boy is straight.

This is something Zayn knows for a fact because Louis has been flirting on and off with a pretty brunette who’s still on desk duty at the agency. Her name is Eleanor and was a time agent graduate in the same year as Liam. Whenever Louis came across Eleanor, he would walk toward her and start flirting unabashedly and she was very eager to return his flirtations.

So no, Zayn doesn’t want Louis to find out. He doesn’t want Louis to treat him with pity or distaste because he can’t return his feelings. It would surely taint their friendship and Zayn doesn’t want to lose Louis as a friend.

When Zayn sits down on the bed next to Louis, Indian style, Louis shuffles around in the bed until he and Zayn are facing each other. He looks at Zayn with a grin and pats him on the knee. The spot Louis touched still burns with heat when Louis’s hand leaves his knee.

“You are okay with us sharing a bed, right?” Louis asks. He gives Zayn what looks like a nervous smile. It’s looks rather adorable, a word Zayn would have never though he would associate with Louis. Fit, cunning and passionate, yeah but not adorable.

“It’s alright. It’s a miracle we didn’t have to do it before,” Zayn answers as he shrugs his shoulders. Zayn and Louis have been on a lot of mission together and had to spend the night in past time periods during most of them. They don’t have a lot of money to spend on inns or hotel most of the time and usually are forced to sleep in one room. “I just hope you’re not a kicker.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’m not, unless you steal my blanket. When that happens, I can’t be held responsible for my actions,” Louis jokes and he gives Zayn a playful shove, almost making him topple over.

“No stealing blankets it is than,” Zayn says, a snort escaping him before he can stop himself. Louis doesn’t comments on the strange noise. He just laughs at Zayn, making the younger boy’s heart swell with pride and affection.

“I do mean it, though,” Louis warns Zayn. He tries to show just how serious he is by schooling his face into a blank mask. “If I wake up without my blanket, I’m going to kick you out of the bed and I won’t allow you to crawl back in again.’

"Consider me warned,” Zayn tells Louis, trying for a poker face himself.

Louis turns around and sits back against the headboard. Zayn follows his example, sitting down next to him. The place where their arms touch burns as they fall into a comfortable silence.

The silence is broken a few minutes later when Louis starts talking about Henry the Eight. Louis tells Zayn that the famous English king wanted to be remembered for the battles he fought. If he knew what he would actually be remember for, he would probably be mortified. Instead of being remember for winning a famous battle, he’s remember for what he’s put his wives through. He divorced two and killed two others, all in the pursued of making an heir.

And with the topic of wives of Henry the eight, comes the subject of Anne. The future queen of England who the Intruder is after for some reason.

“And don’t really understand why he’s after her, if I’m honest,” Zayn tells Louis. “She’s just a queen. It would make more sense of he went after Henry.”

“Like always, you underestimate the weaker sex,” Louis admonishes Zayn with a playful voice. Zayn turns his head to look at him and sees that Louis is grinning at him. He raises a finger in the air and starts waving it in front of Zayn’s eyes. “Women are important, even in Tudor times. They may not have any political power but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any influence. They can make a men do whatever they want with their charms. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve been a victim of them myself a few times.”

A unpleasant feeling settles in Zayn’s stomach at Louis’s words because they’re once again a reminder that the older boy is straight. Louis like girls, he’s into girls not guys.

“Why do you think he’s after her?”

“Well, there can be a lot of reason,” Louis tells Zayn. He lets out a sigh and sits back against the headboard again. “It could be because he likes the first queen more than Anne and he doesn’t want her to break them up. Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t like that Anne tried to reform the church. My money would be on that one. It won’t surprise me if he was some catholic nut job that wants to go back in time to stop Protestantism spreading. Or maybe he doesn’t like that Anne’s daughter Elizabeth is going to rule England one day. There are some men who think women are inferior for some odd reason.”

Zayn knows Louis is a passionate believer in the equal rights of women. It isn’t surprising, Louis has grown up surrounded by women. He has a lot of sisters and a hard working single mother. He grew up with strong women and it has had a profound influence on him.

Zayn’s upbringing has been very different from Louis’s. Zayn is an only child and his parents are divorced. His father raised him all on his own. There has been almost no female influence in his life. Which is why it came as such a surprise to Zayn that women weren’t for him. Guys who grow up with a lot of female influence are supposed to grow up gay, not guys in Zayn’s situation.

“We’ll have to ask him when we catch him,” Zayn decides. “You think he’s going to tell us or are we going to have to drag it out of him like with the Intruder we caught last time?”

The redheaded man had been especially difficult with providing answers to Zayn and Louis’s questions. They had caught him while he tried to murder Columbus. They kept asking him why he tried to kill the famous explorer but he kept refusing to answer. They had to threaten him with cutting off his thumbs, something they weren’t actually allowed to do, before he cooperated.

“I’m afraid he’s going to be the same. Remember, he knows who we are. It wouldn’t surprise me if he knows we’re not allowed to torture Intruders. No, this one is going to be difficult, in more ways than one. Let’s hope we can catch him before it’s too late.”


	6. Where Liam And Anne Meet Again

The sound of a bucket crashing to the floor almost gives Liam an heart attack. He doesn’t have to turn around to know who has caused the sound. There’s only one other person in the room and he happened to be the most clumsy boy Liam has ever met.

“Sorry,” Harry exclaims immediately. Liam can her him scramble to pick up the bucket he dropped on the stone floor as he continues beating the dust out of the curtains. Luckily for Liam he’s not asthmatic because with every hit of the rod in his hand a cloud of dust erupts from the red cotton. Liam has never seen this much dust.

“You really need to learn how to hold on to things,” Liam tells Harry. “It won’t do for the king to discover he has hired a clumsy servant.”

Liam knows he shouldn’t care about whether Harry gets fired or not but he can’t really help it. The poor bugger, who is far taller than Liam but hasn’t had as many summers as him, has endeared himself to Liam.   

“I know. I know,” Harry mumbles. Liam can hear a splash as the younger boy puts the mob in the bucket followed by the dripping of water on stone when he puts the mob to the floor. “My mom keeps telling me the same. I can’t really help it, though. My balance is just off.”

“Better not go near the king, than,” Liam jokes. He turns around to smile at Harry but the younger boy’s eyes are not on him. Instead, they’re on the floor where he’s dragging the mob across it. Liam can see a frown on his down-turned face.

“But hey, at least the ladies think it’s cute,” Liam tells Harry as he shrugs his shoulders.  He doesn’t like seeing Harry sad.

“If only being cute could stop me being send to another castle.” Harry looks up and gives Liam a smile that doesn’t really reach his eyes. “You’re probably right. I’m going to need to stay out of the king’s sight.”

“Harry, you know I was only joking, right?” Liam asks. Harry looks at him with eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It makes his green eyes seem even more intense. “You’ve been working at the castle for years now, if they’d really send you away because you’re clumsy don’t you think they’d already done so by now?”

“Maybe it’s because my clumsiness hasn’t caused too much damage, yet,” Harry offers. He has turned his head away again and is mobbing the floor. “I haven’t spilled any wine or beer on the king. Maybe that’s going to happen and I’ll be lucky to get away with my life.”

“I don’t think it will get that far. You know the king isn’t that awful,” Liam reminds Harry.

He isn’t telling the other boy a lie because the king isn’t what popular opinion makes him out to be, both in personality as well as physic. The man that walked the hallways of the castle with the crown of England on his head wasn’t a huge man who liked to torment his servants, subjects and wife. Instead, he’s a man with an athletic body who is both stern as well as kind. Liam knew this of course. You don’t become a Time Agent without knowing all the secrets of history. He knows Henry the eighth was a kind man who played sports that burned off the huge amount of calories is meals consisted of. Sure, he has done some horrible things but he only did it on the ill advice of others.  It was only after his accident, that happened during his marriage to Anne, that he become such a horrible person who killed two of his wives. It was also from that time onwards that he put on so much weight.

But at this date in history, the king is still pleasant to be around, without his sudden mood swings and the stink of rotting flesh accompanying him everywhere. So, Liam doesn’t really think Harry has to fear for his life.

“Maybe, but I don’t want to take that chance.” Harry shakes his head. “No, I’m staying away from the king.”

Liam lets out a sigh before turning his head back to the curtains and continues with his task. As he hits the red cotton with the wooden rod, his mind returns to the other task at hand, the one nobody but he knows about.

Namely, protecting Anne, whom he hasn’t seen once during the four days he’s been working at the castle. He has looked for her everywhere, being a servant has granted him access to the whole castle and it’s grounds but he hasn’t been able to spot her. If Harry didn’t tell him that Anne Boleyn and her sister Elizabeth indeed lived at the palace, he would have thought he was at the right place at the wrong time.

He just hopes he’ll be able to find her soon and convince her to make him her personal guard. Every moment she goes without protection, is another opportunity the Intruder has to murder her.

It doesn’t take Liam and Harry too long to finish the room and within an hour, they’re standing in the hallway again.

“Are you going to play cards with me and the boy’s again?” Harry asks Liam as they make their way to the servant quarters. It’s there break and there’s food for them waiting downstairs. The wooden rod in Liam’s hand swing back and forth with every step, much to the annoyance from his upper arm muscles. They’re really tired after having to wield the wooden instrument for an hour.

“Nah, I think I’m going walk outside for a bit,” Liam tells his friend. He lets out a sigh. “I think I need some fresh air.”  

He needs time alone to think. It’s important that he comes up with a way to become a guard as soon as possible. Maybe walking in the garden will give him inspiration.

“That’s a shame. Well, alright then.” Harry grins at him as he shrugs his shoulders. He skips down the last remaining stairs before tripping and falling flat on his nose.

“I’m alright,” Harry grunts even before Liam can move to help him. The younger boy climbers to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.

“That must have hurt.” Liam’s eyebrows crease in worry as he walks down the three stairs and towards Harry. The curly haired lad turns so his back is leaning against the stone wall and he’s facing Liam. There is blood trickling from his nose but it isn’t spewing so Liam’s heart slows down a bit.

“Not more than usual,” Harry replies. He presses a hand to his nose to assess the damage but he immediately flinches away from his own touch. “Ouch. Shouldn’t have done that.” It’s usually Liam who checks out of anything is broken so Harry didn’t know he had to be careful with pressing down.

“Do you think you can make it to the servant quarters alone?” Liam asks.

“Of course, Liam,”  Harry scoffs. His lips are pulled into a smile and there’s humor in his eyes. “It’s not as if I’ve broken a leg. You just go on to the gardens. I’ll be alright.”

“Alright than.” Liam smiles back at Harry. “Just be careful where you’re going.” Liam would have liked to have added that they wouldn’t have wanted him to trip in front of the king but he knows it’s a sore spot for Harry, so he doesn’t. Instead, he just says goodbye and ruffles Harry’s curls before walking away. 

The birds are out and about, singing their songs to one another when Liam enters the garden. There are flowers everywhere, most of which Liam doesn’t know by name but they smell really nice. The fragrance they give off reminds Liam a bit of the perfume his mother uses. It surprises Liam that he remembers it as his mother is almost never around. Neither of his parents are big on spending time with their son. His father didn’t even notice Liam when he started working at the same Office is him.

Liam takes a deep breath, banishing away the resentment that he feels. It’s no use feeling sorry for himself. He needs to find a way to speed up the mission instead of wallowing in self-pity.

Suddenly, a noise to his right startles him. Liam wipes his head to the direction of the sound. His heart skips a beat when a very fit and familiar lady appears from behind a hedge. It’s Anne and she looks even better than Liam remembers.

Anne is wearing a red dress. Around her neck is a necklace with a golden pendant in the form of the letter B. It’s the famous Boleyn heirloom. Liam is surprised at himself that he didn’t spot it when he rescued her. Her dark brown hair falls long and luscious over her shoulders, making her neck even more enticing. Liam aches to blemish the fair skin with a love bite.

She doesn’t spot him at once, too busy with talking to the other girl that’s walking beside her. The blonde girl must be her sister Mary, the lover of the king before Anne. She must be his lover now. But eventually her eyes find Liam and a smile blooms on her face.

“Liam,” she exclaims. She starts walking towards him, her sister following her reluctantly. When she’s reached him she curtsies to him. Mary makes a disapproving noise because it’s not becoming of a lady to bow for a servant. “What are you doing here?”

The sight of Anne has made Liam breathless and unable to answer for a few seconds. When he finds his voice again, it’s a little bit hoarse. “I work here, my lady.” His eyes are turned down, showing Anne he knows she’s above him.

A frown of confusion appears on Anne’s face as her eyes travel over his clothes.  Liam tries his hardest not to blush. “Why are you in servant clothes. Aren’t you a knight?”

“I’m afraid not, my lady. I’m not of noble birth,” Liam replies.

“How did you learn to fight, then?” is Anne’s next question. She turns her head to look her sister in the eyes. “This is the man that saved me a few weeks ago.” For Liam it was merely a few days ago but time goes quicker at the older side of the portal.

“My father taught me,” Liam lies. His face doesn’t betray he’s about to tell her an rehearsed story, it’s without emotion as he stares at the underside of Anne’s dress. “He showed me how to fight so I could protect the farm against any who would steal our crop.”

“Well, I’m glad he did,” Anne tells Liam. The young man sneaks a glance and his heart skips a beat when he sees a smile on her face and fondness in her eyes. It makes something swell in his chest. “I’m forever grateful for saving me. If there’s anything I can do for you, just say the word.”

This is Liam’s chance. He can ask Anne if she will let him be her personal guard. But, maybe it’s a bit too forward. What if she’s going to ask why he wants to guard her all hours of the day? It’s not as if he can tell her the truth and he isn’t too sure if he can tell a convincing lie. He really should have though this through more. Maybe it’s best if he asks her how he can become a guard of the whole palace. If he can become one of the men in uniform that patrol the corridors of the palace, he can shadow Anne and come to her rescue should the intruder try to strike again without anyone batting an eyelash.

“I would  like you to tell me how I can become a guard. I want to use what my father taught me to guard the nobility,” Liam shares with Anne.

A look of amusement crosses her face, the smile growing bigger and the corners of eyes narrowing with mirth. Liam decides he likes this look the most.

“It’s not often I hear this request from a servant,” Anne tells Liam. It doesn’t surprise the boy because most of the nobility didn’t treat their servants well. The last thing most servants want is to risk their life for their master. “Is your request serious? Do you really want to become a guard.”

“Yes. I do believe I can do better than a servant job.” Liam wants to cringe at the arrogance of his words but he has a part to play. People in this era didn’t rise above their station without feeling they were better than other people from their background.

“You’re going to have to ask the king if you want to become a guard,” Mary tells Liam. Both Liam and Anne startled at the sudden interference of the lady’s sister. The blonde woman looks disdainfully at the servant standing in front of her and Liam tries his best to not let it get to him. He knows how things work during this day and age. It isn’t either Liam or Mary’s fault, it’s the society Mary was brought up in. Anne would have most likely looked at him the same way if he hadn’t save her. It would have made the mission a lot more difficult. “Doubt he’ll allow you to, though. He only appoints the people he knows he can trust.”

“He can trust Liam,” Anne tells her sister. She looks disapprovingly at Mary, who raises her eyebrow in return. “I will vouch for him to the king if I must.”

“I don’t think the king will listen to you, Anne,” Mary tells the brunette sister. There’s a bit of arrogance showing in her eyes as she looks at her sister. “I hold more sway over him then even the queen. If I vouch for this servant, it would do much more than when you would.”

“Would you do it, than. Vouch for Liam,” Anne pleads. Her voice is friendly but Liam can see in her eyes that she didn’t appreciate her sister’s bragging. “You would help your sister pay a debt.”

“I could try…” Mary trails off. She turns her head and looks Liam up and down. The young man feels uncomfortable under her disapproving gaze. “I’m not sure it would help any, though. He doesn’t look really trustworthy. I can see in his eyes that he’s hiding something.”

Mary is more perceptive than she seems at first glance, apparently. Liam tries not to give anything away as the blonde lady looks at him with piercing eyes. It seems he’s succeeded because Mary doesn’t say anything else. She just turns to her sister and tells her, “Come on, let’s continue our walk. Or is there anything else you want to tell your rescuer?”

“No, I just wanted to thank him, that’s all,” Anne replies. She turns to Liam again. “Thank you again for saving me. I really hope you succeed with becoming a guard.”

“Thank you my lady.” Liam bows and doesn’t raise his head back up. “I’m glad I could be of service to you.”

Liam only lifts his head back up again when the swishing of the dresses dragging over the grass has faded away. 


	7. Where Anne Asks For Liam’s Help

From a young age, Liam has known what a tournament is but he’d been in the dark about how much work goes into organizing one.

The servants have been busy with getting everything in order for when the guests arrive ever since yesterday. The ones with a lot of muscle have been put to the task to build the row of seats the king and the rest of the court will be seated on as well as the playfield. Liam is one of them, together with Harry and at the moment they’re busy with putting the last touches to the stands.

“Saint Mary,” Harry curses when once again the hammer comes down on his thumb instead of the nail. The finger is purple with bruises because he keeps refusing to do other work even though Liam has ensured him a number of times he can be useful somewhere else.

“Harry, really. Stop hurting yourself,” Liam exclaims, his voice tight with frustration. “If you’re not careful you might splinter the bones in your thumb and you’ll never be able to use your thumb again.”

“Shit,” Harry curses again. Much to Liam’s relief he lays the hammer down on the ground before turning to Liam. “I’m not good for anything, am I? I have one task in life, serve the king, and I suck at it.”

Liam lets out a sigh before lowering his hammer as well. He turns towards the younger boy and gives him a reassuring smile. “Harry, serving the king isn’t your only task in life. There’s more to life, even for the likes of us. Isn’t there a girl you like?”

The redness that suddenly spreads over Harry’s face tells Liam his friend has indeed a girl he fancies.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Harry asks, his voice soft with embarrassment. His eyes flit from Liam’s eyes to his bruised thumb. The slight tilt forward of his head causes his hair to fall in front of his face.

“Love can also be a big part of your life. Surely, you’ve thought about asking the hand of this girl?” Liam informs. He knows marrying young is considered normal in this century.

“Yeah… I… I don’t think she …,” Harry mumbles, the blush now expanding down his throat.

“You don’t know that until you ask her.” Because Liam knows Harry he knows what he’s trying to say. He doesn’t think she’ll say yes to a marriage proposal if it comes from Harry. The young boy is one insecure little bugger and it breaks Liam’s heart a little bit. Even though he has only known Harry for one week, he considers him his younger brother.  

“But what if she says no?” Harry asks. He lifts his head and looks Liam straight in the eyes. “I don’t know if I’ll survive if she says no. I care really deeply for her, not to mention that I’ll be the laughing stock of the castle and no woman will ever want to marry me when that happens.”

“I doubt it will get that far,” Liam reassures Harry. “And if she does say no, you’re better off without her. You don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t appreciate you.”

“It’s clear you’ve never been rejected,” Harry protests. The younger boy starts to nibble on his full bottom lip as he eyes Liam wearily. “Why else would you talk like that. Clearly, you’ve never felt the sting of rejection.”

“I wish that were true,” Liam admits with a sigh. “Girls have broken my heart but I always remind myself I’m better off without them. If they don’t want to be with me anymore, neither should I.”

“And does it work? Does it make the breakup less painful?” Harry wants to know. His eyes shine with hope and curiosity. He’s wiggled a little closer and is leaning into Liam eagerly.

“Not always, unfortunately.”

“Oh,” Harry deflates and the frown on his face reappears. “Never mind than, I’m not going to ask Maggie to marry me.”

“Alright, that’s your choice but you’re not working with the hammer again and that’s not up for debate. Why don’t you go to the kitchens and help there instead.”

Harry eyes light up at the mentioning of the kitchen. The younger boy has a sweet tooth and whenever he helps out in the kitchens, one of the cooks slips him something. It’s the dimples and curls, Liam supposes. Someone like Phil can’t say no to Harry when he uses them to his advantage.

“Why didn’t you tell me that’s where you want me to go the first time I hit my thumb?” Harry asks before jumping from where he and Liam were installing the last plank. “Good luck, Liam. Watch your thumbs,” Harry calls out before he’s off towards the kitchens. Liam watches him go for a few seconds before he returns to his task.

Everything is finished in time and when the guests arrive Liam and the other servants greet them and take their luggage up to their rooms. There are at least 5 earls and more than 10 knights that’ve come to either watch or partake in the tournament. Most of them Liam has never heard of but some of them are going to play important roles in English history. The only man of the clothe in attendance is cardinal Wolsey, who Liam immediately recognizes from his portrait. He’s one of Anne’s enemies, which means Liam doesn’t like him even though he doesn’t really know him.

When all the guests have arrived, they’re summoned to the tournament field because the first jousting will begin in a few minutes. The melee will take place at the end of the day.

As the first pair of knights prepare themselves in the tent, the rest of the guests make themselves comfortable on the stands. Liam and the rest of the servants are allowed to watch the game as well but have to stand at the side lines.

Liam feels conflicted as he looks around the stand in search for any familiar faces. At the one hand, he’s excited to finally see a real jousting but at the same time he feels anxious because people have died during these kind of games. Sometimes spears splinter and someone gets badly hurt and die a few days later. King Henry had the accident that changed him so much during a tournament.

Suddenly, Liam sees Anne’s face in the crowd and she notices him staring. She smiles at him and gives him a wink. Liam can feel a blush creep down his cheeks towards his neck and into his shirt. He immediately looks away and at the playing field instead. As Liam tries to silence his racing heart. The knights walk out of their tent and onto the field where their horses are waiting for them.

When both of them are seated in their stallions, King Henry stands up and addresses his people. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to yet another tournament. It gives me pleasure to see how many of you have turned up. I want these games to be fair, which means no rule breaking and no cheating. That kind of behavior is only allowed on the battlefield.” The audience laughs which in turn makes the king smile. “Let the games begin.”

As soon as the trumpet sounds, the knights start, urging their horses towards each other. The knight on the right pushes the other knight off of his horse a few seconds later with his spear. The horse of the fallen knight gallops on until he’s reached the other side of the field. The victor turns his horse around when he’s reached the opposite side of the field.

“We have our first champion of today,” King Henry announces. He’s standing up and smiling at the knight who lowers his helmet. The knight has short red hair and a big nose that makes him look like a drunkard. “Sir John of Canterbury, ladies and gentlemen.”

After the first dual, three more follow. During the last one, someone gets hurt pretty badly which Liam sees as his cue to return to the castle.

Liam is making his way to the castle when he sees two men caught in a fight. One of them is dressed in fine garments and is wearing a red cap that’s threating to fall off in the heat of the fight. The other man is dressed in all black and Liam can’t be sure but he appears to be wearing a mask.

“Hey, what are you doing,” Liam calls out as he runs towards the fighting figures. They don’t seem startled by him and continue their deadly dance.

When Liam has reached the two men, he grips the shoulder of the one clad in black and turns him around. The man reacts by stabbing Liam in his side with his dagger. Liam hisses in pain but doesn’t let it stop him. Instead, he uses his attacker’s momentarily distraction caused by satisfaction to wrench the dagger from the man’s hand and pull it from his side with his own hands. Now he’s the one with the dagger.

“Go now and I won’t bring you to the king,” Liam warns the other man between clenched teeth. “And believe me, he won’t be as merciful is me.”

This prompts the man in black to run past Liam and flee the grounds of the palace.

“Sir, are you okay? Did he wound you?” Liam asks the noble man staring at him with scared eyes. Liam just hopes it’s because he’s still scared about the attack, not because of Liam.

“No, he didn’t get me,” the noble man tells Liam in a strained voice and for a moment Liam relaxed, but that changes when he sees a red stain spreading down the other man’s side. Because of the shock, he must not be feeling the pain.

“Sir, you’re not okay. You’re bleeding,” Liam protests. The other man’s eyes travel down his own body until they find wound Liam’s talking about.

“That’s weird. Why don’t I feel anything?” the nobleman asks as his voice begins to become unsteady.

Liam rushes to his side before he can collapse and puts his arms around the other male. “It will in a bit. We have to go to the castle, Sir, so the healer can attend to your wounds.”

“But all the healers are at the games,” the nobleman protests. His words are slurring now  and Liam knows it won’t be long before the other man is going to pass out. He really needs to get back to the castle as soon as possible.

“I’m going to take you to the nearest room and then I’ll get one of the healers. It’s going to alright, sir,” Liam reassures the nobleman.

“Alright, alright,” the older male mumbles. “If I can’t trust my rescuer, who can I trust?”

It takes Liam fifteen minutes to get to the closest bedroom and another ten minutes to get one of the healers. The nobleman has already passed out when they’ve made it to the room.

The healer tends to the nobleman’s wounds and after he’s done he binds Liam’s. An hour later, the nobleman has regained consciousness.

“Thank you so much for saving me,” the nobleman tells Liam when he sees the young servant sitting next to his bed. He wanted to stay until the nobleman woke up. “If there’s anything I can do for you in return, you name it and I will do it.”

Liam knows this is his window of opportunity. If the king knows he’s risked his life to save one of his guests, he’ll surely make Liam a guard. So, even though Liam hates taking advantage of people in their weak moments, he asks the nobleman if he can convince the king to make him a guard.

This makes the nobleman laugh. “I don’t know if the king will listen to me but sure. I’ll look what I can do for you.”

—-

It’s late at night and the sounds of the guests having the time of their lives while they consume the lavish dinner is a loud background noise to the darkness of the night.

Liam closes his eyes as he lets the cool night air wash over his face. He lets out a sigh, prompting his body to finally relax. He’s just been made a guard, in front of hundreds of guests. The king had heard about his heroic deed and decided to honor his request right away. He told Liam he was happy to have someone in his guard as brave as Liam.

The crickets are chirping rather loudly but that’s not what shakes him from his reverie. It’s someone who sits down next to him and when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s Anne.

“Hey, Liam. Congratulations,” Anne tells Liam as she smiles at him. She’s leaning forward and Liam can feel her breasts push up against his arm. Knowing she’s doing this on purpose makes Liam blush violently. He’s been never seduced so obviously before. “I knew you would get there somehow. But I feel like I should be jealous that I’m not the only one who you’ve saved.”

The pout on her lips makes Liam want to kiss her but at the same time shake her until she stops acting coy because he usually doesn’t like it when girls act that way. However, with Anne it makes her look even fitter. Maybe it’s because she has such obvious sex appeal.

“You know what, I know how you can make it up to me.” Anne presses even closer and suddenly Liam feels too hot and he wants press her even closer so badly. “Can I ask a favor of you?”

“Sure,” Liam replies. Much to his mortification, his voice quivers.

“Can you pay attention to how many times the king visits the queen’s room?” Anne asks. She lays one of her hands on Liam’s leg, causing a stab of arousal in his gut.

Because Liam doesn’t seem able to say no to Anne, he tells her he will. Not that he has any choice to begin with, even if he was in his right mind. After all, Anne and Henry are going to marry, even without Liam’s help.

And just like that, Liam promises Anne to help her win the heart of another man.


	8. Where Louis And Zayn Meet Bandits

They haven’t managed to catch the intruder yet but Zayn knows he and Louis are closing in on him. The footprints and all the other evidence of his presence he leaves behind indicate that the distance between the intruder and the agents is receding.

Louis shares Zayn’s optimism. He told the other agent he thinks they’ll be able to catch him within three days. He had grinned at Zayn when he told him so and it had set off a storm of butterflies in the younger man’s stomach. That always happens when Louis smiles at him. It had been one of the things that had clued him in on his feelings for his colleague.

It hadn’t been the first time Zayn had fallen in love with a straight guy. Since he’d discovered he preferred his own sex at the age of twelve, he’s fallen in love with the wrong guys a total of three times. It sucks but he can’t really help it. The heart wants what the heart wants, which sucks big time in Zayn’s case.

He has only been lucky once. He’d fallen in love with Luke Michaels, who much to Zayn’s surprise, did like guys and they had dated for six month. Zayn had ended it because he hadn’t really been in love with the blonde boy. They had remained friends until they grew apart a year ago.

One of the reasons for that was the Time Agency. It consumes almost all of Zayn’s time, which makes it hard for him finding time to catch up with friends.

Suddenly, Louis lets out a curse, shaking Zayn from his thoughts. Zayn had let them wander while they had been walking down a forest path.

“What is it?” Zayn asks, worried.

Louis leans down and Zayn tries his best not to stare at Louis’s ass. He really does, but his eyes don’t listen to his head and they slip down. Zayn has to swallow down a groan at the sight of Louis’s plump ass. He can feel the urge to lay his hands on it creep up on him but he suppresses it. Louis wouldn’t appreciate it if his colleague couldn’t control his hormones.

“Son of a bitch must have stolen a horse,” Louis comments as he stares at something on the ground. Zayn walks to Louis’s right and sees a print of a horse shoe on the ground in front of the older boy. “Shit.”

“Well, we’re going to have to borrow some horses as well,” Zayn tells Louis. If they want to catch the Intruder, they’re going to have to change their mode of transportation as well.

“That’s just great,” Louis mutters as he stands up straight again. He drags a hand through his hair and lets out a sigh. “It’s going to cost us a lot of money. Horses are not cheap.”

“We can always steal them,” Zayn proposes, only half joking. If they really can’t afford it, they may have to steal horses. The most important thing is that they catch the intruder before he can do much damage.

Louis looks at Zayn with a raised eyebrow and a disapproving look and for a moment he thinks Louis is going to tell him off for the first time since they’ve started to work together. But then his lips curl upwards and his eyes start to sparkle.

“I like the way you think.” Louis’s smile morphs into a grin as he throws an arm around Zayn’s neck. Suddenly, Zayn, is really hot and all of the nerve endings on his neck seem to be on fire. He just hopes Louis can’t hear his rapidly beating heart. “It’s good to see you’ve still got it. I’ve missed your mischievous side.”

When they first started to work together, they had caused their bosses a lot of headaches. They would adhere to the rules, but had created chaos within the boundaries. Like for example stealing horses, even one time a sheep – they always returned them to their owners of course, after the missions had ended.

Because they didn’t break any rules, their bosses had only come down on Zayn and Louis when they’d already been agents for four months. The head of the department had called them into his office and had pressed upon them how important it was that they kept a low profile and that stealing animals or starting fights in inns didn’t scream stealth. He had told Zayn and Louis to take their job more seriously and to stop mucking about. Ever since then, they’d reserved their pranks for the office. Zayn sometimes wonders if his bosses regret forbidden them to have a lark during their times out on the field. He already knows they regret putting him and Louis together as a team.

“But I think we’re going to have to buy them. We’re already in a lot of trouble as it is.” Which is true. They were supposed to have returned to headquarters with the intruder days ago. Hell, they shouldn’t have let him escape in the first place.

Zayn and Louis continue walking down the forest path. The wind is silent and soft as it plays with the leaves in the tree canopy. The forest is filled with bird song, some of them beautiful, other mundane.

The two agents are too caught up in their own thoughts that they don’t see the men watching them from the trees, their eyes greedy as they follow the movements of the two men beneath them. Zayn and Louis should’ve spotted them, agents learn always to be alert.

But as it is, the men in the trees go unnoticed until the jump in front of Louis and Zayn. Both immediately grab for their swords and unsheathe them. The other men eye them with menacing eyes as they brandish their swords.

“Gives us your money,” the biggest of them demands with a gruff voice. “If you give it willingly, we won’t hurt you.”

This is just great. They don’t have enough money as it is and now they’re being robbed. Why does it have to happen to them? This mission keeps getting worse and worse. Well, if they think Louis and Zayn are going to give up their money willingly, they’re wrong. It’s all the money they have and there’s no way they can get their hands on more. There’s not a portal nearby, so they can’t get in contact with the agency. They’re going to cause a lot of harm before they give up their money.

Louis is the first to strike. He lets out a shout and runs towards the robber who’s nearest to him. The robber is quick to react, blocking Louis with his own sword before he can hack into his belly. The other robbers take it as a cue to attack as well. Two of them run towards Zayn while the other joins their comrade in his fight against Louis.

The robbers are good with their swords, but luckily for Zayn, not as good as him. He manages to disarm them both before they can do him any serious harm. He has a gash on his cheek and he’s probably littered with bruises but other than that, he’s alright.

However, the fight is not over yet. Louis is still fighting one robber and he is badly hurt. He’s limping and he’s letting out cries of pain as he wields his sword.

Zayn runs to Louis. The bandit doesn’t notice him as Zayn hits him with the hilt of his sword. The bandit falls down immediately, unfortunately, right on Louis.

“Fuck,” Louis exclaims in pain as the heavy body lands on him. Together, they fall to the floor, Louis unable to keeps his balance thanks to his wounded leg.

“Shit. Fuck. Sorry,” Zayn curses. He kneels down and with Louis’s help rolls the bandit off of his friend. The leaves rustle as the body lands on the forest floor.

“Let’s look how badly hurt you are,” Zayn announces. He pulls a dagger from his satchel and starts cutting open Louis’s hoses that are stained red with blood. Louis hisses in pain as Zayn pulls the fabric back.

The wound looks really painful and deep. Louis needs stitches and at least a whole day of rest. Which means they’re going to be as far from catching the Intruder as they were a few days ago.

But Zayn knows they have no choice. The most important thing right now is getting Louis stitched up and letting him heal.

Zayn pulls his first aid kit from his satchel. Agents never go on a mission without one. Their job is dangerous, they always get wounded. Every agent has all but a medical degree, they all have the knowledge, but lack the papers.

When Zayn has chased the germs away with his lighter he pulls a thread through the eye. His heart is beating rapidly as he lays Louis’s legs on his lap. Zayn and Louis may sleep in the same bed almost every night on mission, this feels more intimate. Goosebumps appear on Louis’s skin as Zayn’s fingers dance over his tan skin.

Valiantly, Louis doesn’t cry out in pain as Zayn starts to stitch him up. There are only whimpers and sighs that escape him as Zayn pierce his skin with a needle.

Zayn tries to hurry but be thorough at the same time. He hates hurting Louis, hates to see him in pain but he doesn’t want him to have stitches that are askew and not neatly done. So, he tries to do both.

When he’s finished, Zayn takes a careful hold on Louis’s leg and lifts it from his leg. He puts it down on the forest floor and gets back to his feet. He holds out a hand so Louis can get to his feet as well with his help.

Louis puts his hand in Zayn’s and Zayn pulls. Louis gets to his feet but he stumbles forward, right into Zayn’s arms.

“Sorry,” Louis mumbles but he doesn’t move away. His chest is pressed to Zayn’s and he’s looking up at him.

Zayn’s whole body seems to be on fire. Every nerve ending tingles as the two boys share breaths.

Louis’s eyes are blue. So very very blue. And his lips. Fuck. They’re pink. The fucking color of lollypops. What would they feel like pressed against Zayn’s lips? What do they taste like?

Has Eleanor ever kissed Zayn?

And just like that, Zayn is out of his stupor. Louis is straight. Not gay. He isn’t interested in kissing guys. And Zayn is most definitely a guy.

Zayn takes  step back, creating space between him and louis. He doesn’t let go of the other boy, though. He doesn’t want Louis to topple over.

“Let’s find a place to spend the night and the whole day of tomorrow. I think we have enough money for that.”

“Yes, right,” Louis mumbles. His cheeks seem to be flushed red. He’s probably embarrassed about falling into the arms of a guy. It makes Zayn’s heart ache.

Zayn hates this, crushing on a straight bloke. He had told himself he would never do so again. But then Louis had sat down in front of him during the lecture about the history of the agency. It had been crush on first sight.

And the crush hadn’t gone away, no matter how hard Zayn tried. He couldn’t stop thinking, dreaming about the older boy. As the years past, his feelings only managed to grow stronger.

And now here he is, Louis partner in all but the way he wants him to be.


End file.
